Newly Formed Asheville Band, Tellico, Raises $7500 In A Day For Debut AlbumTellico is Anya Hinkle (guitar, fiddle & vocals), Stig Stiglets (bass & vocals), Aaron Ballance (dobro), and Jed Willis (mandolin, clawhammer banjo)Help Tellico Grow Their Community By Doubling The Amount of Backers From 100 to 200 By The End Of The Campaign (Mon 11/17)

Tellico is the most recent product of Asheville NC’s thriving roots music scene, with its members well schooled in bluegrass but with an unbridled organic Appalachiacana sound, and they are excited to be debuting an album in 2015. Tellico features the singing and songwriting of Anya Hinkle (guitar, fiddle, vocals) and Stig Stiglets (bass, vocals) with Aaron Ballance on dobro, as well as Jed Willis on mandolin and clawhammer banjo. After playing together late last year, three former members of the Asheville bands Dehlia Low (Anya, Aaron, and Stig) and Town Mountain (Jed) decided the combination of so much history together and the excitement of a new project was so compelling that they decided to form Tellico.

Well known for their rootsy, authentic singing and vocal harmony, as well as in the hard-edge nostalgic yet modern themes of their songwriting, the quartet combines some of the finest voices, songs and instrumental prowess in western North Carolina and beyond. In previous lineups, the band’s members have performed at some of the nation’s most prestigious festivals and venues including MerleFest, Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots, Mountain Song Festival, and the Freight and Salvage. Aaron also won the Rockygrass Dobro Competition in 2010. Anya, Stig and Aaron also recorded under the Rebel Records label in 2011 for Dehlia Low’s Ravens and Crows album as well as three other independent releases with their previous band between 2007 and 2010.

Folks are excited to hear the new music and within the first 24 hours of launching a 33-day Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their debut album they had met their goal of $7500. By day nine, they had surpassed it to reach $10,000. The band is wowed by all of the support which will not only enable them to make the album, but also to expand their calendar and get their music out to more listeners across the country. Tellico has reached a beautiful milestone in this campaign and now has a bit over 100 backers! This campaign has always been about getting the music out there and growing a community around that effort and they still have more than halfway to go.

Seeing such a positive response from the community, the band would like to grow the Tellico family over the remainder of the campaign to double the amount of backers to 200 at any reward level! Getting involved before the CD is even made allows them to get as many CDs printed as they can, which will shipped out to backers before the album even releases to the public. In addition, becoming a backer means becoming a part of the project, and a feeling of investment in the album’s recording and release, as well as helping to provide us more financial options than if you were to purchase the album after it is released. Backers become Tellico’s record label, the band digs it, wants you to join them in this and for you to bring your friends along for the ride too!

“Connecting with and hearing from their fans makes such a difference in the way they think about the “why” part of what they do. It’s wonderful hearing from you,” says Anya Hinkle. One backer, LFW, wrote “Dehlia Low’s music brought me through some of the most difficult times in my life as I coped with the illness/deaths of my parents…… and, of course, still inspires me today. I’m so thankful for that and feel like I owe these wonderful talented musicians. Looking forward to hearing the great/beautiful music they will produce. Can’t wait for the CD!!!”

The songs that will be on the album reflects the sights, sounds, and feelings of living in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina capturing the resonating and universal themes of love, disaster, cheatin’, loss, busking, dreams, and change. The blend of Anya and Stig’s committed, authentic vocals with Aaron’s flowing and soaring dobro and Jed’s textured and expressive mandolin bring to the songs their foundation, rooted in the mountain music they grew up with, but taken to somewhere unique.

Check out the video they made for the campaign and listen to a few demo cuts of three new songs at http://bit.ly/TellicoKickstarter. Please do help us spread the word with friends and family that may be interested!

By becoming a backer for our upcoming album, not only do you get an autographed copy of the disk mailed right to your door, but also other perks only available to backers, like personal thank-yous, limited edition hats, shirts, crafts and stickers, demos and pre-release tracks, photos from the studio and project updates. Most importantly though, you join us in the process creating this album. It’s a big world but it becomes smaller when we connect with each other. And more fun.

What folks are saying about Tellico:

“Tellico’s music is easy enough to understand at first: acoustic music rooted in Appalachian traditions that is memorable and well played, with a female lead singer whose voice is as dreamy and sad as it is soulful and sweet. But there’s so much more to it than that, and uncovering all the layers of what makes Tellico special can become a kind of captivating mystery story. Here you have members of bands Dehlia Low and Town Mountain making music that is both true to their roots but unique and fresh. It’s music that can appeal to die-hard old-time, bluegrass, ragtime and blues fans while bending the ears of folks who never liked songs that even came close to a pair of overalls. Front and center is the voice of Anya Hinkle, who reminds me of Billie Holiday in a Carter Family setting; she seals the deal. I’m very much looking forward to hearing their first album.”–Joe Kendrick, WNCW 88.7 FM & Producer of Lingua Musica, Asheville, NC

“It strikes a chord in me…it sends chills up my spine.” –“Hippie” Jack Stoddart, Jammin’ at Hippie Jack’s Americana Festival and Council for Americana Roots Music

“I knew from the first moment I heard Anya sing that I had found the voice I craved to hear once again–a voice that is both unique yet beautiful, with a truly authentic quality. I can’t wait to review the forthcoming Tellico release.” –Dennis Brunnenmeyer, KVMR, Nevada City Limits, Nevada City CA

“…one of the most distinctive voices in bluegrass,
a smooth, low croon that goes down like whiskey with a little bit of honey,”
—The Bluegrass Situation

How do you follow an album that features three #1 and two #2 bluegrass radio hits? If you’reChris Jones & The Night Drivers, you give fans what they’ve been asking for—a live album that delivers a few choice new selections nestled among a flock of favorites, recorded in an intimate, small-town venue that brings out the best in the quartet’s soulful vocals, hotshot picking and easygoing humor. From its blazing opener, “Bound To Ride,” to its even speedier closer, “Pike County Breakdown,” Live At The Old Feed Store, hit the stores on October 7, 2014, and is one that long-time fans will treasure, and it’s also a perfect introduction to a group heading toward its 20th anniversary in bluegrass. The live album is a follow-up to 2013’s release Lonely Comes Easy, which was their first all-new collection since 2009’s Cloud Of Dust. Founded by guitarist Chris Jones in 1995, the Night Drivers feature four distinct personalities who bring a multitude of talents to each performance. Indeed, the group includes Jones, banjo man Ned Luberecki and bassist Jon Weisberger, and mandolinist Mark Stoffel.

The release of Live At The Old Feed Store comes on the heels of one of the busiest IBMA World of Bluegrass weeks ever for Chris Jones & The NIght Drivers. Topping the list of activities? That’s a hard call, but a few stand out, starting with the announcement that the quartet has signed a two album deal with North Carolina’s high-powered label, Mountain Home Music Company. Jones says, “We’ve been very impressed by the quality of Mountain Home’s roster and the strong record of results they’ve achieved in bluegrass music and beyond. We’re extremely excited about this opportunity to join the Mountain Home family.” Others on Mountain Home’s roster include Balsam Range, The Boxcars, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and The Grascals. The Night Drivers will be working on a new studio album for 2015.

Also at IBMA was the reception of two IBMA awards–one to designer, label and artist for Best Graphic Design (Lonely Comes Easy, on Rebel Records designed by Lou Everhart), the other to Jones himself for Print Media Person of the Year. The group performed a showcase for booking agent Roe Entertainment and also a Wide Open Bluegrass festival slot in the Convention Center Ballroom with long-time friend and former Night Driver Jeremy Garrett (Infamous Stringdusters) on fiddle. Ned Luberecki served as off-stage announcer at the IBMA Awards Show on Thursday night, while Night Driver and IBMA Board Chair Jon Weisberger got his own shout-out from the Raleigh News & Observer when reporter David Menconi served up his Tuesday schedule as proof that the old saw that the organization’s initials stand for “I’ve Been Mostly Awake” is no joke (“Busy Days, Sleepless Nights During World of Bluegrass Week.”)

Early reaction to Live At The Old Feed Store has been favorable, with a choice quote, “Chris Jones & The Night Drivers is a great band, not just for the mastery of their instruments, but for the sheer joy they bring to all those who listen,” with the album also earning their top rating “Bad-Ass” coming from Philadelphia’s THAT MAG.

Live At The Old Feed Store features the Night Drivers’ music front and center, exemplified by the first single, “Battle Of The Bands,” which scored a world-exclusive premiere on Bluegrass Junction. The album displays the group’s wide range of inclinations, with nods to the Stanley Brothers (“Bound To Ride”), Johnny Horton (“I’m Ready If You’re Willin’”) and George Jones (“I Cried Myself Awake”), banjo pyrotechnics (Luberecki’s own “Emergency Pulloff” and a blistering “Pike County Breakdown”) and well-crafted originals (“Like A Hawk,” “Then I Close My Eyes,” and “Lonely Town”).

Alongside these, the Night Drivers have laid in a selection of fan favorites, including Stoffel’s glistening take on The Sound Of Music’s ever-popular “Edelweiss” (followed by a lively turn on an old-time fiddle tune, “Forked Deer”), the gospel quartet of “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms,” and Luberecki’s comic tour de force, “Cabin Of Death,” one of the group’s most requested numbers.

A couple of guests make appearances—Sally Jones contributes harmonies to “Follow Your Heart,” and 2013 IBMA Momentum Vocalist of the Year Emily Bankester recaps her Lonely Comes Easy appearance on “Then I Close My Eyes”—with the focus all on the Night Drivers, who show conclusively that no studio magic is needed for them to deliver compelling performances. From start to finish, Live At The Old Feed Store delivers a faithful representation of a Chris Jones & The Night Drivers set, and as their busy schedule shows, that’s something that audiences are always eager to share.

The group celebrates the release on October 8th with a show at the recording venue, The Old Feed Store in Cobden, IL, followed by a Tennessee weekend that includes dates in Norris, the Fall Homecoming Festival at the Museum of Appalachia and Nashville’s Oktoberfest in Germantown. The band had notable appearances this year at Big Sky Big Grass, Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, MerleFest, DelFest, Bluegrass on the Plains, The Huck Finn Jubilee, Targhee Bluegrass Festival, Bean Blossom, and The Bourbon & Bluegrass Steamboat Tours. Big Sky Big Grass gets the award for the biggest on-stage jams with the Sam Bush Band and Del McCoury joined the Night Drivers on stage at DelFest to sing on “Wolf Creek Pass.” Luberecki was part of MerleFest’s First ever BanjoRama which was hosted by “Dr. Banjo” Pete Wernick. They’ll be traveling for a European tour for ten days in October of 2014 and will be on the road for dates throughout 2015.